Scientists May Have Spotted Brain's 'Numbers Center'

THURSDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- The area of the brain that's activated when people look at numerals such as "7" and "60" has been pinpointed by researchers.

This spot is only about one-fifth of an inch across and consists of 1 million to 2 million nerve cells in the inferior temporal gyrus, the Stanford University School of Medicine researchers said.

The inferior temporal gyrus is known to be involved in the processing of visual information.

Researchers also found that, relative to neighboring areas, activity in this newly identified spot substantially decreased when people viewed numbers that were spelled out ("one" instead of "1"), homophones ("won" instead of "1") or false fonts in which a number or letter had been altered.

"This is the first-ever study to show the existence of a cluster of nerve cells in the human brain that specializes in processing numerals," Dr. Josef Parvizi, an associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences and director of Stanford's human intracranial cognitive electrophysiology program, said in a school news release.

"In this small nerve-cell population, we saw a much bigger response to numerals than to very similar-looking, similar-sounding and similar-meaning symbols," he explained.

The study in the April 17 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience could open the door to further discoveries about how math is processed in the brain, the news release suggested. It may also help researchers find new ways to help people with dyslexia for numbers and those unable to process numerical information, a disorder called dyscalculia.

Parvizi added that the finding is "a dramatic demonstration of our brain circuitry's capacity to change in response to education. No one is born with the innate ability to recognize numerals."

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Stanford University, news release, April 16, 2013

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Is it ok to have missed periods for 6 months?

I'm 14, 5'5" and I used to be 140 pounds but I lose weight and now I'm at 122. I started this dieting in February, but my last period I remember was in late December. I think I lost my period from dieting, but it makes me wonder since I didn't get my period one month before I started the dieting (maybe it would've just been late...I don't know) I'm at a good weight now so I'm going back up to maintenance calories (1800-2100). Most people have told me that by eating enough my body will soon adjust and get my period back, but I don't know how long that will take, or if it will even work. I really don't want to go to the doctor because if my mom knew that I went on a diet and lost 18 pounds she'd freak out. I'd like to just wait maybe 6 more months and see If it will come back, but will this be damaging to my health to potentially not have a period that long? If I didn't lose my period from dieting, is it normal for teens to have missed their periods for more than 6 months? Thanks!

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Doutzen Kroes at the Tiffany & Co Blue Book ball

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Should I be worried about the new kind of “bird flu” discovered in China?

Posted June 17, 2013, 2:00 am

I heard that a dangerous new kind of “bird flu” was recently discovered in China. Should we in the United States be worried?

You’re right: In March 2013, cases of a brand-new kind of bird flu were discovered in China. One of the hardest things to predict is what will happen when a new strain of the influenza (“flu”) virus first infects humans. I’m not exaggerating when I say it could turn out to pose no threat at all in the U.S., or it could be truly terrible.

The world is full of different flu viruses. Most of them infect just animals, often just one type of animal. Sometimes they are able to jump from one type of animal to another. Sometimes they are even able to jump from animals to humans.

Flu viruses are so unpredictable because they are constantly changing or mutating their genes. (Genes are sections of DNA that control specific characteristics of an agent, such as a flu virus.) They also are constantly swapping their genes with the genes of other flu viruses. When they change or swap their genes, they change their character.

There are two questions to ask about the character of every new flu virus that affects humans: how easily is it spread from one person to another, and how sick does it make the people it infects? Its assortment of genes determines the answer to those questions.

When a new virus spreads easily between people, and if it makes people very sick, there is a lot to worry about.

How bad can a flu virus be? The worst flu outbreak for which we have good records occurred in 1918. A new virus was born that spread easily between people and made people very sick. In the course of a few months, 30 percent of the people in the world caught the virus, and at least 20 million people died. That’s more than were killed in World War I.

From what we know about this new flu virus, called H7N9, it has jumped from chickens and ducks to humans in eastern China. It is not yet clear whether it has spread from one human to another. It has made some people very sick and there have been several deaths.

The latest numbers were reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on April 29, 2013. China had reported 126 human cases of the new flu. The people affected have been older (average age in their 60s), and many have had chronic illnesses. So far, many fewer children and young adults have been infected.

The CDC and scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are working overtime to protect our health. They are doing what they can despite the fact that the funding for these two critically important federal agencies has been cut by the “sequester.” Regardless of what you think about federal spending in general, if you are against cutting funding for health research and public health, your representatives in Congress can do something about that.

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Katy Perry speaks at the I Create Music Expo in Los Angeles

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anorexia recovery

Hi I'm a 20 year old male and I've been suffering with anorexia for years.I've got a fairly healthy weight at the moment but I do find it very hard as I still have anorexic thoughts and I would really love to move forward. I just wondered if there's any genuine people out there in a similair position who would like to chat about their day to day problems with anorexia If so I would like to hear from you-either PM or post on here

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Health Tip: Resolve to Meet Your Exercise Goals

(HealthDay News) -- Don't sit idly by as your New Year's resolutions about exercise slip away with the passing months.

The American Council on Exercise suggests how you can meet your fitness goals all year long:

Make sure your goals are attainable and realistic, and that you include short-term goals.Resolve to make a series of small changes that add up to big results.Be specific. Instead of resolving to exercise more, plan on a particular activity on certain days of the week.Make sure your goals are based on your personal, strong desire to make changes for yourself, not someone else.Get creative in finding ways to exercise, such as walking more during errands.Plan for obstacles, and remember to reward yourself when you succeed.Create a support system to help you stick with your goals.

-- Diana Kohnle
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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